A Virgin At The French Laundry

   First Times are never supposed to be very good. Awkward, messy, never living up to expectations, it's the reason they make so many movies about them. Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Superbad, American Pie and of course this guy.

First times are something one is supposed to laugh and cry about years later usually at a drunken high school reunion. But here I am loud and proud, bragging about my first time just days after the fact.

   When ever I tell people I live in Sonoma almost the first thing they ask me is "Have you eaten at The French Laundry?" For years I've been able to dodge the answer.

   "Well, it's in Younteville and we live in Sonoma. That's the other side of the Myacamas" (actually about 12 miles away.) Lame answer.

   "It's really, really, really, hard to get reservations, nearly impossible." (doubly lame.) That's like "I really, really, like you and of course want you to meet my parents and tell them about us but their schedule is soooo busy."

   "Those places are really never all they're cracked up to be. It's actually mostly hype." Yeah sure.
 
   Well, finally I can say "Yes, I've done it. Finally, I've eaten at the French Laundry and yes,  it was amazing."
 
   We've eaten at a lot of restaurants over the years, the usual suspects in the usual places. Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Santa Fe, Sonoma, Santa Barbara. We came, we saw, we ate, and yes I will admit to being a chef groupie. If open kitchens are Woodstock, I'm the one dancing down front with the body paint on X.

  After eating at a lot of places, over the years I know that I'm not comfortable in hotsy totsy snooty places.  I don't need to feel like I'm dining  with the Hapsburg emperor in 1897 with waiters hovering around like the Secret Service. I've actually eaten in the restaurant featured in this clip and I felt like I was going to be sent to my room if I made the slightest etiquette error.



  So, I was nervous when our friends  invited us to join them that night. I was nervous. This was a grown up, dress up place. Guys wear ties, girls wear pearls, or at least something nice. I would have to leave my jeans and boots at home. Alan would have to wear a jacket and tie. In LA the only place they really make you wear a jacket and tie is when they're burying you, and sometimes not even then. Most places there are grateful if you're wearing flipflops. This was scary. I was nervous. Not normal nervous, I'm talking Junior Prom nervous. I was afraid that I'd be intimidated by the service, that the staff would make me feel self conscious and that they'd be watching me eat every bite. I was sure I'd feel as though I were an intruder in the palace. I couldn't have been more wrong.

   First of all, the building is warm and inviting from the outside. After all it was a freaking laundry not Buckingham Palace!

We were seated in the upstairs dining room. It's a clean, cool room. Elegantly simple. The experience is one of dining in someones' lovely French country house. Not that I'd know anything about that experience but I've seen enough Bunuel movies.

So okay, lovely surroundings, calm and soothing. The perfect setting for the perfect dinner with friends. What could possibly go wrong? Turns out nothing. The evening was perfection.

   The way The French Laundry works is two 9 course prixe fixe tasting menues every day. One vegetarian, one not. The menues are different every day. Many of the ingredients are grown in the garden across the road that one sees from the windows of the restaurant. One of our hosts for the evening is a vegetarian who is also piscatarian, that is, he will eat fish. No problem, they adapted the vegetarian menu to give him a few fish courses for variety. His wife has a gluten allergy and here is where my mind was officially blown. She informed the restaurant about her needs when making the reservation and they came through like champs.

   Every time we were served something that had gluten in it she was served the very same thing, only the gluten-free version. No fuss, no muss. She was not made to feel "different" because of a food allergy. The creativity and care they took in meeting her dietary needs was extraordinary. I've never seen anything like it. If you have a gluten allergy, you need not fear. You will get great treatment here.

   I wish I had some pictures to share but the idea of whipping out my iPhone and snapping away at every course set before me just didn't seem right. I just couldn't do it. Of course that didn't seem to stop the couple at the table next to us who seemed to be shooting a virtual photo essay of the evening. The food, the plates, the wine, selfies, each other.  The restaurant seemed to be cool with it. Nobody stopped them and I got the idea that it certainly happens often there. After all it is The French Laundry, one of the top 50 restaurants in the world.

   Dining at the French Laundry is not a hurried affair. Prepare to spend about 3 hours at table. The menu is a delight to read. The origins of the ingredients are sourced and any questions one needs answered are capably handled by the waitstaff. I'd give you a menu link but it  since changes every day I can only tell you what I had on Monday evening.

 Oysters and Pearls
 Sabayon of pearl tapioca with Island Creek Oysters
and White Sturgeon Caviar

Salade De Chou-Fleur
Fava Beans, Poached Bing Cherries and Watercress

Sauteed Fillet of Pacific Yellowtail
Globe Artichokes, Niscoise Olives,Sun Gold Tomatoes,
and Petite Basil

Sweet Butter-Poached Maine Lobster
Hen egg emulsion,Sacramento Delta Green Asparagus, Red Radishes,
and Black Winter Truffle Vinegarette

Four Story Hill Farm Poularde Rillette
Arrowleaf Spinach, Corn Cake, Cipollini Onions
and Poularde Jus

After that, the next plate is an individual choice. I selected,

 Bacon Wrapped Marcho Farm Nature-Fed Veal
Fingerling Potatoes, Spring Onions,Nantes Carrots,
and Sauce Bordelaise

   We moved through the various courses, each small plates exquisitely prepared. Of course wine was ordered. I don't drink, but Alan and our friends enjoyed a bottle each of Domaine Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru and Domaine Meo-Camuzet Les Chaumes, Vosne-Romanee Premier Cru. Okay , I have no idea what any of that is but let me say they were all very well pleased with their selections. I can highly recommend the sparkling water.

   After all of that food, I expected to receive the dessert that we had each selected before the meal started. Not so fast, the fun wasn't even close to over.

A Cheese Course came for each of us

Andante Dairy Legato
Poached Field Rhubarb, Piedmont Hazelnut Crisp, Garden Mache,
and Black Winter Truffle Coulis

A Fruit Course

Verjus Blanc
Demi-Sec Grapes, Jasmine Tea Ice Cream,
and Caramel Crisp

Finally the Dessert Course

Princess Cake
Animal Farm Buttermilk, Navel Orange Marmalade,
Toasted Marzipan, and Cara Cara Orange Sorbet

After dessert the staff asked us if we'd like coffee or tea. Strange I thought, usually coffee is served with dessert. Alan and Terri ordered Cappuccino, Chip and I ordered mint tea. A few minutes later the waitstaff appeared carrying trays of small cappuccino cups. I was about to announce that a mistake had been made I didn't order this cappu.....when what the hell.....it wasn't coffee at all. It was another dessert.

The French Laundrys' famous "Coffee and Donuts" a Cappuccino Semifreddo with Cinnamon-Sugar Doughnuts. Oh yes they did!

   The mint tea arrived after that along with a wooden box that looked like a humidor, inside was a selection of amazing hand crafted chocolates. Quickly they were joined by a bowl of candied Macadamia nuts, and a bowl of wrapped chocolates.

   The bill was settled; gratuity was included in the price. As we prepared to leave our servers gave each of us a small silvery box, filled with cinnamon shortbread cookies to take home "for later". Terri was given the cookies, to take home to the family and a packet of gluten free chocolates for herself.

    And so we wandered out into the warm Spring evening, well fed, but not uncomfortably stuffed. Four totally blissed-out, contented diners hit the road back to Sonoma. I can truly say that the experience at the French Laundry is worth every penny. I have never, ever, had such a dining experience in my life. I'm very grateful to our friends Chip and Terri for treating us to this wonderful culinary experience. It was pay back for a culinary favor.  Back in 2011 they happened to hit the crappy times jackpot. She was very seriously injured in a horseback riding accident just months after discovering she had a gluten allergy, and within two months of that he (a vegetarian) was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

Having been there myself 23 years ago, the cancer part not the horse part, I offered to do cooking for the both of them during their treatment. Since a lot of Indian food is gluten free, naturally that part was fairly simple. His treatment however was a bit trickier. Because of his treatment he had to abstain from anything containing iodine. I had no freaking idea how many things iodine was in. Dairy? Iodine. Fish? Iodine. Bread? Unless it's made with kosher salt, iodine. Iodine seemed to be everywhere. Following a booklet from his doctors at UCSF I developed a menu of vegan, iodine free Indian foods for him, and baked artisan bread for him weekly since that uses Kosher salt which is iodine free. I loved finding solutions to his food cravings during those months, and especially dishes which they both could enjoy.
 
   2 Years later I'm glad to say that with everyone healthy and happy once again, we celebrated with this wonderful meal. I'm definitely planning on going to the French Laundry once more, because as James Bond used to say. once is not enough.

Fast Vegan Ice Cream. Summer Is Coming!

 
   Summer is coming. Growing up in San Francisco's Sunset District, those words had a bit of a different image for me than for most people.

You see, Summer in The City is not hot fun, hot times or any other song lyrics. Summer In The City was standing on my green painted (beyond fake grass) concrete "lawn" in a parka with gloves, waving a sparkler and hoping the fog didn't make it fizz out. We didn't have cook outs we had cook ins (rimshot) yeah, I got a million of 'em. Summer in my neighborhood The Sunset District looked something like this.

Try watching fireworks in that.

   Of course when I moved to Los Angeles, I lived in Santa Monica blocks from the beach, so my  summers stayed pretty much the same.

   So you'd think spending summers in cities not known for blazing Summer weather would dull the appetite for ice cream. Not so. One of my fondest memories is taking an after dinner walk on chilly summer nights with my parents to Polly Ann Ice Cream on Noriega street about a 1/2 mile from our house. There wearing coats and jackets, sometimes a hat (I had delicate ears), the whole family would belly up to the bar and order ice cream cones.

   So did moving to a real, genuinely hot Summer town like Sonoma dim my enthusiasm for ice cream? Not hardly. Whipping up ice cream for family parties and friends gatherings is one of my favorite things to do. But not everyone can enjoy ice cream, even if they want to. My friend Anne is lactose intolerant, my friend Terri is gluten free and just found out she's also allergic to eggs (except not duck eggs, sorry Daffy) and had to cut out dairy. This started me on a search for ice cream that my ice cream loving friends who have had to "break up" with ice cream could enjoy.
  
   Let me say, there are a  whole lot of vegan ice cream recipes out there. I'm not kidding. It's nuts out there. I found out that a whole lot of those recipes involved a very pricy blender device that seems to be all the rage right now and which I am too much a of a tightwad to buy. I finally settled on a very simple one that I'd found on many sites. And you know what they say, a million vegans can't be wrong. So, if you just want to make some vegan ice cream with a simple ice cream machine and a cheap ass 20 buck blender, this is your recipe.

Chocolate Almond Milk Vegan Ice Cream

Here's What You Need:

2 Tbs of sugar
2 Tbs of unsweetened cocoa powder
1 and 1/2 cup of unsweetened almond milk
2 ripe bananas

Here's What To Do:

Mix 1/2 cup of almond milk together with the sugar and cocoa powder.

Pop it into the microwave for 30 seconds, then take it out and give it a good stir blending it together well.

Peel the bananas.

Break them up and put them into a blender along with the cocoa sugar mixture, and 1 cup of almond milk.

Blend it until it's smooth.

Pour the mixture into any ice cream machine and let it blend for about 25 minutes or until it's the desired thickness.
Serve it up.

   The ice cream has a nice deep chocolate banana flavor and really can do the trick for someone who wants their ice cream but either doesn't want, or can't have all the fat, and dairy. This makes about 4 guilt free servings.

   But be warned, this ice cream is best made and served directly. When stored in the freezer before serving it turns to icy stone. Truly. I found that out the hard way last Saturday night when I tried to serve it to friends. Good thing I had a back up dessert. This ice cream makes up so fast you can really just churn and burn and don't worry about left overs. There probably won't be any.
 
   Coming up next, a book review and what's on for Mothers Day? Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

Gems of the Farmers Market. Baby Turnips and Greens, Indian Style.

  
   LA in the 80's was the homebase of Nouvelle Cuisine. Back in the day, the less that was on the plate and the more one paid for that less was the hallmark of being an LA foodie. In the 80's everything seemed to be about blackened anything, unborn baby vegetables, tiramisu and raspberry vinaigrette. Well, the rest of the food fads have passed on but my love for teeny, tiny perfect jewel-like vegetables, I can't quit that. I see them and I go weak in the knees.
I've got to have have them.

  
   So, when I was at the Organic Farmers' Market here in Sonoma yesterday and saw these little gems, of course I bought them. I also picked up some collard greens, kale and spinach. I was wondering what I could turn these into that would be fast, easy and filling for our lunch. I also had another motive.

   It seems that May is  Celiac Awareness Month. 

   No one in our family is gluten intolerant but quite a few of our friends are, and since we entertain a lot I find myself cooking for a wide variety of food allergies. Cooking Indian food is actually a perfect fit for many of our friends. A lot of the dishes are naturally gluten free or vegan so no one has to eat something "special" and when everyone can dig into what's on the table dinner parties are more fun. I always ask about allergies before inviting someone to dinner, and during the week when I experiment with dishes, I usually keep a few friends in mind. This dish (actually a twist on a couple of Indian dishes I already make regularly) was created for Terri who's gluten free and vegan.
 

Turnips and Greens

Here's What You Need:

12 baby turnips, quartered
1 bunch of collard greens
1 bunch of kale
Salt
1 small bunch of fresh baby spinach
1 red onion finely chopped
1 serrano chili finely chopped
4 Tbs vegetable oil (I use coconut oil)
1 tsp of turmeric plus 1 pinch of turmeric
1/4 tsp of Amchur powder (if you don't have it substitute lemon juice)
1/4 tsp Kashmiri chili
1/4 tsp dried fenugreek leaves
1/2 cup of plain yogurt, or soy yogurt for vegans
A 1 inch piece of peeled fresh ginger
1 tsp of nigella seeds
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala
2 tsp of fresh ginger sliced julienne

Here's What To Do:

Take the collards, and kale leaves off the stem.
Flash cook them in a pot of boiling water along with the spinach for about 2 minutes, then drain and pour cold water over them.

Press out the excess water and pulse them in a food processor, until they're finely chopped.

Set them aside.
Grind the 1 inch piece of ginger with the chopped serrano chili into a paste.
In a skillet or kadhai, heat 2 Tbs of vegetable oil.
When the oil is hot add in the nigella seeds and the ginger chili paste.

Stir fry them until the nigella seeds start to crackle in the pan, about 2 minutes.
Toss in the turnips, along with the ground coriander. 1 tsp of turmeric, 1/2 tsp of salt.

Stir everything around for about 3 minutes or so then lower the heat, put a lid on the pan and cook until the turnips are tender, about 15 minutes.
Set the turnips aside.
In a skillet or kadhai heat 2 Tbs of vegetable oil.
When the oil is hot add in the chopped red onion.

Stir fry the onion until it's lightly browned.
Add in the thinly julienned ginger.
Stir fry it for another minute.
Add in the chopped greens.

Add in a pinch of turmeric, 1/4 tsp of Kashmiri chili and 1/4 tsp of amuchur powder or lemon juice.
Stir everything together well and add in 1 tsp of salt.
Add in 1/2 cup of yogurt (or soy yogurt).

Stir until it's gently heated.
Add in the turnips.

Heat everything together.
Sprinkle 1 tsp of garam masla over everything, stir it in and serve it up.

   These turnips and greens, paired with a rice dish, that's all she wrote, or all you need for a great Meatless Monday Spring lunch on the deck.

   Coming up next, I get frisky with some gourmet vinegars and strawberry season. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

Korma, An Indian Restaurant Comes To Your Kitchen. Now with Goat!

   Lately it seems as though I've been making food for large groups of people, finger foods for awards night, buffets for birthday parties. I just couldn't do anymore big crowd feeds. I was done for a while with racing around between steaming bamboo cookers and trays of samosas. I was having parties but barely getting out of the kitchen. I still wanted to cook, I just wanted to be able to sit down at the table with a manageable number of  guests and actually enjoy myself for once. So I resolved (sort of a belated new Years Resolution) to have a series of small dinners, especially small dinners where big parts of the meal could be made ahead of time. Thus, the Goat Korma feast.

   One of my good friends here in Sonoma, and my cooking mentor/godmother/kitchen role model is Paula Wolfert. Paula is the one who got me started cooking in clay 6 years ago. She gave me my very first clay pots and showed me how to cure and use them. Paula and her husband novelist Bill Bayer are part of our group of usual suspects here in town and we always love hanging out over a long leisurely lunch. About a week ago Bill had to be out of town and I decided it would be great to cook for Paula while he was away. What made it double great was the fact that her son Nick would be visiting during that time and we really wanted the opportunity to visit with another fellow LA/Sonoma transplant. Throw in our usual taste tester Mr. X and I now had my feasters.

   Lamb, or Goat Korma is a standard Indian restaurant dish. If you've ever eaten at an Indian restaurant, most likely there's been Korma on the menu. It's curry dish served in a mild almond sauce made with cream, yogurt and sometimes even coconut milk for the lactose intolerant. It can be made with lamb, goat, chicken or game and there is even a vegetarian version which I will be getting to soon. I make my Korma with meat on the bone. I feel it adds a lot more flavor and also what I look for is falling off the bone tender.

   Any Korma starts with the meat being seared to brown it and seal in the juices. It's then slowly cooked dum style, that is slowly, in a sealed pot. I cook mine in clay. It can also be made in the infamous slow cooker, aka the "Crock Pot." That's where the cook-ahead part comes in, so you can wake up the morning of your dinner party and say, "well that's done." Always a good feeling.

   Korma is also a showy, fancy pants dish. Since it originated with the cooking of the  Royal Court in Persia then migrated to India with the Mughals, this is not your grandpa's lamb stew.. Korma is an event meal, special guests, royal weddings, birthdays you get the picture. Hell, just  think up a celebration and Korma's your dish, which is why I chose to cook it for Paula. I made my Korma with goat, but the recipe works the same with lamb.

Royal Lamb or Goat Korma

Here's What You Need:
  
4 lbs of lamb or goat shoulder, bone in (have the butcher cut the leg with the bone into slices) If you're using boneless meat you'll need about 2 lbs.)
8 large shallots
A 1 inch piece of ginger peeled and chopped
5 Tbs of blanched almond slivers
1 cup of water
4 Tbs of coconut oil or vegetable oil
10 whole green cardamom pods
6 whole cloves
A 1 inch long stick of cinnamon
2 brown onions finely chopped
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp kashmiri chili or 1/4 tsp cayenne mixed with 1/4 tsp paprika
Salt to taste
1 and 1/4 cups of heavy cream, or yogurt, or coconut milk.
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/4 cup thinly sliced  almonds
1/2 cup of chopped fresh cilantro

Here's What To Do:

Put the 5 Tbs of slivered almonds, shallots, ginger, and 6 Tbs of water into a blender. Blend it into a paste and set it aside.
Heat the vegetable or coconut oil in a large pot, and when it's hot add in the pieces of meat.

Place the meat in 1 layer across the surface of the pot and sear it until it's browned on all sides. You may have to do the meat in batches. When it's done take it out, and set it aside.
Since I was cooking in clay, I then transferred the oil from the pot (after cooling it quite a bit to avoid cracking the clay) to my clay pot.
Put the cardamom pods, cloves and cinnamon stick into the hot oil the meat was browning in.
Stir them around, in a few seconds the spices will start to swell up and get fragrant.

Add in the onions.

Stir fry the onions until they are a light brown.
Turn down the heat to the medium range and add in the paste from the blender.

Cook the paste for about 4 minutes then  add in the coriander, cumin and chili.

Stir fry the spices a bit, about 3 minutes or so.
Add in the meat pieces, and any juices, salt, cream, 1/2 cup of water.

Bring everything to a boil.
Once it's boiling, turn it all down to low and simmer everything with the lid on the pot.

Now, most recipes say you should cook this for an hour or so until the meat is tender. Stir it often and make sure nothing is sticking. I cook my korma in clay I simmer it for about 5 hours on a very low heat, just as one would cook something in a crock pot. I check it occasionally, and once it's in the simmer stage it's really no trouble.

When the korma is done transfer it to a Pyrex bowl and stick it in the fridge for overnight storage. The day of the dinner party, take it out, skim any fat that's accumulated from the top and slowly reheat it.

When cooking in clay I just keep it on a back burner of the stove on a low temperature for another 3 to 4 hours while everything else is cooking. This results in very tender falling off the bone meat.

Just before serving the Korma, stir in 1/4 tsp of garam masala.
Sprinkle the top of the dish with chopped cilantro and the thinly sliced almonds.

This recipe will feed 6 to 8 people.

   I served this goat korma with a  rice cooked with whole spices and fried onions, Spinach and Corn , a mango coconut salad, watercress and shallot salad, a salad of thinly sliced mooli (Daikon radish) and an onion, tomato and cucumber salad. So, one hot entree, accompanied by rice, a hot vegetable dish, and a variety of small fresh salad bowls. Of course there had to be chapattis. What's a dinner without chapattis? That gave me a chance to break out the Rotito Rolling Board the nice people at GitaDini sent me a while back.

It's got a place for everything (box for flour, hole to stash the rolling pin, easy to clean surface) and everything in its' place. I love this thing!

 

 

A good thing for me since I consider myself a very messy cook and usually need to be hosed down before I'm allowed at table with my guests. By the end of my cooking "process" it usually looks as though I've been fighting raccoons.

   Here I am screaming to take away the camera. Paula, who is neat and clean is highly amused. I meanwhile am waiting for some kitchen maven to make a designer drop cloth//hostess gown that I can wear while entertaining. You hear me Snuggie People?? There's a market out there.

  I've had some requests for the actual Chicken version of my Cauliflower cooked like a chicken dish. That will be coming up along with lots and lots of vegetarian dishes since spring is here in Sonoma and our Tuesday night  Farmers Market opens next week. Can't wait. There will also be granitas as it's getting hot here in Sonoma..   Meanwhile, follow along on Twitter at @kathygori. 

Old Cauliflower New Tricks. Bake your Cauliflower Like A Chicken.

This is not your brain. This is your cauliflower.

This is your cauliflower on Indian spices. Whoaaaaaa!

   Just in case there's anyone out there who doesn't know the origin of this expression or hasn't watched a "very special episode" of anything, it references this Public Service Commercial which ran on the TeeVee way back in the 80's.



Ah yes, the 80's back when everyone wore stone-washed mom jeans, leg warmers, neon colors and big old shoulder pads.

No wonder they thought they had to warn everybody. That's yours truly on the far right. And later, working my best Annie Lennox...

...out with friends. Note big bling earrings and lots of hair wax. I was just waiting to get the call for the Addicted To Love Video.

   So we see how people can get weird and change, but an innocent cauliflower? What the hell happened to that thing up there?

   A vegetable trick that's what.

  There's a traditional Indian chicken recipe called Murgh Musallam. It's a complicated recipe that involves skinning a whole chicken, marinating it in a spice paste for 2 hours then making a fried spice paste, and when the chicken has had it's go-round in the first marinade, it's then rubbed  inside and out with the second fried spice paste. One then wraps the whole bird up in aluminum foil and bakes it for an hour and a half. This dish is freaking delicious. It is also something that is not done every day. You can see why. This is a special occasion company dish.

   When we lived in LA, I would occasionally be asked by friends to come and teach them to cook certain Indian dishes. I always enjoyed this. One day my very very best friend in LA (who will remain nameless here) asked me to help her make this dish for a friend visiting from Canada. It seems it was the guy's birthday also, so she asked if I would I bake him a cake. Of course. She planned on serving this dish at a romantic lantern-lit dinner outside in their garden. Since the man had a plane ticket and needed to be at LAX  to return to Vancouver that very night, this complicated dish had to be set up like clockwork. I gave her a complete list of what would be needed and asked her to have all the ingredients ready to go when I arrived at her house early in the afternoon so that we would be ready to start cooking. I got over there with my equipment only to discover she had not bothered to defrost her chickens. Nothing was ready. No how, no way.

   Smash cut to the birthday boy leaving for Vancouver while everyone else at the party waited for the chickens to come to roost outside of the oven. That's the trouble with this dish made using chicken. Cauliflower however, that's a whole different story. There are a lot of recipes for Gobhi (caulifilower) Masallem, some are more complicated than others. This one which orginated with Julie Sanhi, is one of the best I've tried. It was so simple it was ready to serve in less than an hour. Always a good thing, especially if someone has a plane to catch.

   Another thing about this dish, the older the cauliflower the better. This is a little secret I learned from my friend Nisha Katona which you can see right here. So no need to run out and buy a fresh vegetable. Buy ahead and let it mellow a bit. Your mouth will thank you. This cauliflower is steamed for 8 minutes, covered (stuffed) with a spice paste and baked in the oven. When it comes out, cut into wedges and dressed with a delicious  tomato sauce. Cauliflower prepared this way can easily be the star of any vegan, vegetarian or paleo meal.

Cauliflower Musallam

Here's What You Need: 

3 tbs of vegetable oil
1 cauliflower, leaves, core, and stem removed.
1 and 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 Tbs finely chopped shallot
1 and 1/2 Tbs finely chopped fresh ginger
4 serrano chilies seeded and finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground fennel
1/4 tsp Kashmiri chili or cayenne
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 and 1/2 Tbs ground coriander
2 Tbs ground blanched almonds
1 tsp sea salt
1 Tbs flour (or gluten free flour)
6 sprigs of cilantro

Sauce

3 Tbs vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 can of tomatoes pureed
2 tsps cumin
1/2 cup of water
salt to taste
2 Tbs chopped cilantro

 Here's What To Do:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Remove the leaves, stem and core the cauliflower, making sure to leave it intact.

Steam the cauliflower for 8 minutes.

When the cauliflower is tender, take it out and put it into a baking dish to cool.

Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet or kadhai.
When the oil is hot add in the onion and fry it until it's lightly browned.
Add in the shallots and ginger and fry them for a couple of minutes.

Add in the chopped serrano chilies and give them another minute in the pan.

Add all the other spices, the ground almonds and the flour.

Cook everything for another 2 minutes or so.

Add in the water and stir until you have a thick paste.

Take the stuffing paste off the stove and let it cool.
To stuff the cauliflower, push half of the spice paste mix in among the florets.

Spread the rest of it over the top and sides of the cauliflower.
Sprinkle the sliced almonds over the top.

Pop it into the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes, but before you do look on the bottom and make sure your baking dish is oven proof. Can''t believe I did that.

While the cauliflower is baking make the sauce.
In a skillet or Kadhi, heat 3 tbs of vegetable oil.
When the oil is hot, add in the onions and fry them until they are lightly browned.
Add in the cumin and fry it for another minute.

Add in the tomato puree, salt and water, bring the sauce to a boil.

Reduce the temperature to simmer and cook it gently over a low heat for about 15 minutes.
Take it off the heat and add in the chopped cilantro.
To serve this baby up, put the cauliflower on a serving platter, and cut it into wedges.
Ladle some tomato sauce over each wedge.

Serve it up and enjoy.

   This is a dish that will make a great entree for any veg meal. It is easily made gluten free by using gluten free flour, and of course it contains no dairy for the vegans or paleo eaters amongst us. Add a nice salad, rice dish, whatever you please and you've got an easy complete meal for a Meatless Monday, no defrosting and it's done so fast, nobody misses any planes.

   Coming up next , a great new book about the magic of food and family plus more vegetable tricks done easy. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori